These are the ramblings of a self-described wheat, grain and gluten-free “gourmet girl” that loves to cook and eat good food. I love creating and sharing recipes and photographing “beautiful food”. In July 2012, I eliminated wheat, grains and added sugar from my diet and rediscovered real, whole fresh foods again and effortlessly lost 65+ pounds. Join me in my wheat, grain and gluten-free journey. See how easy it is to enjoy grain free gourmet, one meal at a time! Welcome to my blog. Enjoy!

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Sunday, February 23, 2014

Today was a busy day. We had a number of errands and things to do this afternoon and while out on the other side of town, we stopped on our way home at a different Costco. While most area Costco's seem to carry most of the same items, every one I have been to also carries some different things the others don't. For instance, this Costco we went to had lots of different cuts of veal that my regular Costco doesn't carry. They probably had 5 different cuts. They also had other items and more higher end items as well (like Le Creuset, All Clad, very high end jewelry, etc.). I am trying not to overdo it so I didn't go up and down every single aisle like I usually do...but we covered the majority of the store. This Costco also has a separate liquor store with its own entrance. The main store still carries beer and wine but it also sells hard liquor at this one, too, via a separate store/entrance. Since I didn't get back home until after 5:00, and both boys told me they were eating with us, I just stopped at the store and picked up some boneless chicken breasts and diced and sauteed them in a little olive oil when I got home along with diced red bell pepper and quartered fresh mushrooms. I used Del Grosso's "Sunday Marinara" sauce and spiced it up a bit with red pepper flakes and cayenne. I simmered the chicken and veggies in the sauce uncovered for about 30-40 minutes to thicken and meld the flavors together. Simmering chicken in tomato sauce makes the chicken very tender (I assume because of the acidity in the tomatoes). I served it to hubby and both sons while I ate the leftover "String Cheese Chicken Roulade" to finish it up. I also made fresh green salads to go with our meal. I still have half of my leftover pizza from last night to eat for lunch tomorrow (Yay!). Late yesterday afternoon I made my Chocolate Chip Cookies w/ Walnuts. I baked a dozen of them last night and then refrigerated the remaining half of the dough to bake later this week. I added extra walnuts to this batch of cookies (I used 1 cup of walnuts instead of 1/2 cup) to give them some extra nutty crunchiness. They turned out really good and look slightly lumpier because of the extra nuts. I snapped a few photos below and included the recipe below, too. The batch of cookies in these photos have the extra nuts. I just scooped and dropped them onto my cookie sheet using a retractable cookie scoop so they are more "natural looking". If you want to see how they turn out with the normal 1/2 cup of walnuts as well as when they are gently rolled into balls that produce a "neater looking" cookie...click here: Chocolate Chip Cookies. Enjoy!

Directions:Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a medium mixing bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, salt and Swerve sweetener (or other granular sweetener). Make a well in the center of the bowl and add softened butter, cream cheese, egg and vanilla extract. Using a wooden spoon, cream and mix dry and wet ingredients together until the dough is mixed and blended well. Using a rubber spatula, fold in walnuts and chocolate chips/chunks and mix just until blended. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls (or lightly roll into balls for neater cookies) onto a parchment paper lined cookie sheet; very lightly tamp down (do not flatten) -- the cookies do not spread much while they bake. Bake at 350 degrees F for 15-18 minutes or until lightly browned. Cookies are very soft when hot and will firm up as they cool. Let sit 10-15 minutes and then, using a spatula, transfer to a rack to completely cool. Makes about 2 dozen cookies.

12 comments:

We love these cookies ... also the ones with the pecans & coconut (those are my hubby's favorites!) I like the idea of adding extra nuts for a chunky texture ... yum! The hint about baking only half the dough and refrigerating the rest for baking later in the week is great! That's how I'm going to do it from now on.

I've used "Enjoy Life" chocolate morsels in place of the chocolate bar. They are gluten, dairy, nut & soy free and the flavor is wonderful ... rich & chocolate-y. I've just come across them in a dark chocolate version -- 69% cacao -- yay! I'll be using those in my next batch.

Hi CyberSis -- I will have to look for those chips. Do you find them in your regular grocery store or order them? It would be nice to have the convenience of using chocolate chips sometimes! I will see if I can find them in my stores or at Whole Foods. Thanks! Hope you have a great week, too -- as I type this the weather forecast mentioned the possibility of flurries some time later this week -- we actually had a couple days in the 70s here the last few days. I noticed some of the redbud trees beginning to bloom! :-)

I got the chips from a local health food store. Whole Foods carries them, too, but I don't think I saw the *dark* chocolate ones when we were there a few months ago (I could be wrong, though, and not all WF necessarily carry the same things, I've discovered.) I haven't seen them in a "regular" grocery store, although Kroger's natural foods section might have them. Sorry to be so vague tonight ... I really should be asleep by this time. :-) All I know is that I was delighted to find the dark ones, as they seem to be a little harder to come across!

PS: The chocolate bars would probably be easier to chop using a chopping bowl, like my grandma had, rather than a flat cutting board. It was a shallow wooden bowl and she used a curved chopping blade with the handle in the center of it. Since the bowl was curved, it kept the little pieces of whatever you were chopping from flying all over the place. I'd think it would be especially useful for nuts ... and chocolate bars.

Hi Kelly, You don't add the sweetener because they are not absorbed (according to Dr. Davis). So, for the remainder of the ingredients, use this calculator to get the recipe total and then divide it between the number of cookies you actually make with the recipe. I typically get at least 24 medium sized cookies. There are other calculators but this is the one I use most. http://caloriecount.about.com/cc/recipe_analysis.php

Hi there! I usually don't refrigerate mine -- they keep nicely on the counter at room temp for a few days. If you plan to keep them around longer, It's probably best to freeze them to keep them the most fresh. Just make sure they are completely cool before you cover them to store at room temp (you don't want condensation or moisture to accumulate). Hope that helps and hope you enjoy them! :-)

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Welcome to my blog! I look forward to sharing my love of food, cooking and photography with you as well as some of my favorite recipes and food finds. Cooking is a passion and I love experimenting in the kitchen. I rarely follow a recipe exactly and usually feel the need to add a "tweak or two" to make it my own. I hope you get an idea or two while you are here. Cooking doesn't have to be complicated and you don't need to be a rocket scientist to be a good cook. There are so many ways to make a quick and delicious meal without having to run through the drive-thru. You can "have it your way" every day AT HOME! Enjoy!

*Note: Effective July 10, 2012, all recipes (except for an occasional one made for others) are completely grain free, wheat free, gluten free with no added sugar and can be found below in the list of recipes under "Wheat/Grain/Gluten Free Recipes". Enjoy!

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